Skaneateles crop farm named Conservation Farm of the Year

David Lassman / The Post-StandardThe Greenfield farm in Skaneateles is being honored by the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District as the Conservation Farmer of the Year due to their environmental practices. Jim Greenfield (left) and his son, Ben in the corn field where the open green areas show crop rotation. Ben is the 4th generation of the family on the farm.

Skaneateles, NY -- When the Greenfield brothers began their environmental activities on their Skaneateles farm back in 1973, they didn’t even know they were helping the environment.

“We never thought of it,” said oldest brother Jim, 57. “We had just done these things for all these years. Then about 2002 or 2003, some guys from the Skaneateles Lake Watershed came out, looked at our farm and said ‘wow, you guys are doing pretty good.’¤”

Well, the Greenfields still are doing pretty good. All of their efforts to keep soil from washing away into nearby streams and lakes and using less fertilizer on their crops has resulted in the Greenfield Farm being named the Onondaga County Conservation Farm of the Year.

The brothers will receive their award today during a luncheon at noon at Beaver Lake Nature Center in Lysander.

Jim Greenfield said some of the practices the brothers use came out of necessity when operating the farm. What they ended up doing was protecting the local waterways, including the drinking water supplies for the cities of Syracuse and Auburn.

For example, the farm uses grassed waterways on some of its fields. These are areas where there are dips in the ground where water can pool. Planting grasses here keeps the area less wet.

“If we didn’t have the grassed waterways, we’d have a two-foot washout when there’s a heavy rain,” Greenfield said. “Our machines would be stuck over there and we’d have more breakdowns.”

But what the grassed waterways also did was kept soil from eroding and slipping into the nearby Skaneateles Lake, Owasco Lake and Skaneateles Creek watersheds.

“That was a little added bonus,” Greenfield said.

The Greenfields also have a person come tot he farm to test their soil to be sure they are using the right amount of fertilizer. “This saves us money and there’s not as much fertilizer on the ground” to seep into area water.

Mark Burger, executive director of the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District, said the Greenfields do many things to protect the water. These include putting in grass buffers around their property and not plowing their crops so the soil isn’t disrupted which can lead to erosion.

“They are always trying new things,” Burger said. “At one time, Jim told me about a farmer in his area that everyone went to if you needed some advice. I look at Jim as being that person now.”

Burger said it is important to keep soil from eroding into the lakes and streams to keep fertilizer that is in the soil out of the water. Also, he said if too much soil ends up in Skaneateles or Owasco lakes, the water can become cloudy or dirty, which means the Syracuse and Auburn public water supplies may be compromised.

Greenfield, who also won a similar conservation award from the Skaneateles Lake Watershed Agricultural Program, said “it’s gratifying” to win the award. “I guess it shows that our efforts have come to the top,” he said.